 | The Pioneer Era: 1916 - 1938 |
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| The Pioneer Era: 1916 - 1938 |
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A Sección de Aviación (Air Section) was created in 1921 within the I Región Naval at Puerto Belgrano (Bahia Blanca),comprising an operational unit with six Curtiss PN-5 patrol flying boats, and a Naval Aviation School (Escuela de Aviación Naval, or ESAN) with four US Navy-trained instructors and a pair of Curtiss HS.2L flying boats; fourteen Avro 552 floatplane trainers (serialled E-1 to E-14, the prefix E indicating Escuela) were later acquired.
A naval balloon school, with SCA and Avorio-Prassoni balloons, was formed at Puerto Barragán (Ensenada) in the following year, but was transferred to Punta Indio (Estación Veronica) in 1925, when it was decided to concentrate all training units within a single base. The first few year were spent building up the new air arm. Small orders were placed for new aircraft as funds allowed, initial deliveries consisting of a few Huff-Daland Petrel and Keystone 24 Pelican biplane trainer from the USA, and in May 1923, four Napier Lion powered Vickers 84 Viking IV amphibians, which flew with the serial/registrations R-3 to R6 (Argentina was at the time using the prefix R for interim civil registrations, the current prefix LV- being adopted at a later date).
In due course, half a dozen Supermarine Southampton I I I bomber-reconnaissance flying-boats arrived to replace the obsolete F.5L (PN-5), entering service in 1928. Italy provided ten Savoia-Marchetti S.59bis flying boat trainer (serials HR-1 to HR-10) which for the sake of standardisation (not unexpectedly, there were already spares and maintenance problems) were like the Southampton powered by twelve-cylinder450hp Lorraine-Dietrich engines, well-known to Argentine mechanics. The S.59bis had an eventful service life: HR-4 was written off on 27 February 1930, HR-9 on 10 July 1930, and the survivors were transferred to ESAN with the serials E-18 to E-25. Other aircraft to be obtained included a couple of Dornier Do J Wal patrol flying boats and a Savoia-Marchetti S.57 flying boat formerly used by the Italian military attaché in Buenos Aires, which was classified as a fighter (!) with the serial HC-1 (HC for Hidroavión de Caza, or Fighter Seaplane), although it was shortly afterwards, and more sensibly, transferred to ESAN as E-10.
The first real fighter unit was formed in 1927 with five Lorraine-Dietrich powered Dewoitine D.21 released by the Aviación Militar; another two were delivered in 1928 (serials C-101 to C-107 are confirmed).
Commercial relations between Argentina and Britain were extensive at this time, Britain had important financial interests in the country; this explains why US trade penetration took longer than in most other Latin American countries. Britain was also a traditional source of military aircraft: six Fairey I I IF Mk. I I IM, again powered by Lorraine-Dietrich engines, were delivered on floats with the serials AP-1 to AP-6 (c/ns F.1122/1127, later reserialled as R-50 to R-55); being eventually reengined with Armstrong-Siddeley Panther Vl radials, the same engine that powered the single Fairey Seal (c/n F.2111) procured for evaluation.
The mid-1930s saw the arrival of more modern types, this time from the United States; twelve Vought V.65F versions of the 02U Corsair biplane (serials R61. to R-72) which was also in use as a lower-powered advanced trainer (serials included R-57 to R-60); fourteen Vought V.142A (first was R-73) based on the SBU scout-bomber biplane then in US Navy service; six Consolidated P2Y-3 patrol flying boats to replace the elderly Southamptons of the Escuadrilla de Patrulleros (Patrol Squadron), which was since 1936 under the Aviación de la Escuadra de Mar (High Seas Fleet Aviation); eight Grumman JF-2 Duck armed reconnaissance amphibians (serials M-0-1 to M-0-8); ten Stearman 76 advanced training biplanes (E40 to E-49) delivered in June 1936 and followed by another six in August 1937; small numbers of Curtiss-Wright CW.16E basic training biplanes, Consolidated 17 Fleetster and Fokker Super Universal transports, a single Douglas Dolphin amphibian (T-203 c/n 1281) delivered in 1934; and most important of all, twelve Martin 139WAN twin-engined monoplane bombers (3-B-1 to 3-B-12) which gave the service a genuine offensive capability. Three Curtiss CT32 twin-engined transport biplanes were also acquired: 1-E-301 (c/n 63) was delivered in 1935 as a crew-trainer, serving until 1947: 2-Gt-11 (c/n 64) and 3-Gt-1 (c/n 65) were freighters and were broken up in 1949. A Consolidated 17 Fleetster (2-Gt-3) is believed to have become T-202 in Air Force service. Other aircraft taken on charge during this period included at least one Junkers W34 (1-E-305) as night flying (IFR) trainer; Lockheed 10E Electra c/n 1115; two Fairchild 45A light transports (c/n 4007 and 4008)for VIP duties and a second-hand Fairchild 82B (c/n 65 ex CF-AXP) for aerial photography; and a Stinson SR.10E Reliant (c/n 5-5954), operated as 1-E-66 until sold in October 1949 as LV-FBE.
